Page:The library a magazine of bibliography and library literature, Volume 6.djvu/261

 249 ZTbe BoMeian IReport for 1893.

THE annual report of the Bodleian Library published in the supple- ment to the Oxford University Gazette of May 8th, records the largest numerical total of additions to the library in any year, 1891 excepted. The total number of items, printed and manuscript, thus added, is 57,206, of which 39,619, or more than two-thirds, have been contributed under the Copyright Act. By far the most important acquisition is the muni- ficent donation of MSS. by or relating to Shelley, from Lady Shelley, widow of the late Sir Percy Florence Shelley, Bart., the son of the poet. A portion of them are at present only permitted to be inspected under stringent conditions, but ten volumes of autograph MSS. are at the free disposal of students, and are for the most part publicly exhibited. There is probably no other great poet whose MSS. exist in so undeveloped a form as Shelley's, or, consequently, reveal so much of the growth of the piece in the author's mind, or of his habits of composition in general. Com- pared with this splendid acquisition, the other accessions of MSS. seem insignificant, yet several are of considerable importance, especially, per- haps, an Aramaic marriage contract of the year 956, if this be indeed " the earliest known dated specimen of cursive Hebrew writing." The collections of Dr. Shipper, 1685-1734, and of Dr. Bliss, ought to be of considerable importance for the history of Oxford and Oxfordshire. One would like to know more about the Irish MSS. described as "consisting of volumes of Ossianic poems and romantic stories." More important, perhaps, than any of the actual MSS. is a photographic facsimile of one in Earl Fitzwilliam's collection, presented by his Lordship. It is another recension of an anonymous English poem of the fifteenth century, a metri- cal rendering of Palladius De Re Rustica, which already existed in the Bodleian in a different form, and has been published by the Early Eng- lish Text Society. Earl Fitzwilliam's copy, however, is the identical copy dedicated to Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester, and contains dedicatory verses which refer to the gifts made by the Duke to the library of the University. There are many other important differences between the two MSS., and it is hoped that a parallel text edition will be undertaken. Many curious printed books have been acquired, but none of the items separately enumerated appear of extraordinary importance. One is singular, a collection of 469 &&xi&zgrafskriptir, or obituary broadsheets, ranging from 1823 to 1892, "sent from Iceland with a consignment of ponies to a Glasgow merchant, who offered it to the Bodleian." The largest acquisition of recent books from remote countries is one of South American literature, due to the liberality of Ernest Satow, Esq., C.M.G., lately H.B.M. minister at Monte Video, now in Morocco. A considerable amount of cataloguing and other bibliographical work is reported, especially the completion of the catalogue of incunabula by Mr. R. G. Proctor, now of the British Museum. From a statistical table prepared by Mr. Proctor, it appears that in May, 1893, the Bodleian possessed 4,832 separate books printed in the fifteenth century, besides 605 duplicates and 172 fragments. We also hear of preparations for a catalogue of British and Irish books printed between 1500 and 1641, and for a music catalogue ; also of progress with the subject index and of the binding of 17,000 ordnance maps in 340 volumes. More important still is the shelving of additional space recently acquired, to such an extent that " for the first time within the present Librarian's tenure of office, and probably for a much longer period, the Bodleian building contains suffi- cient proper shelving for the books within its walls." Room has also